High performant and high fidelity previews for CSS preprocessing frameworks

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, methods, systems, and non-transitory computer-readable media are disclosed that allow allows developers of user interfaces to see quick and accurate previews after changing content that needs to be processed via a cascading style sheet (CSS) framework such as LESS, SASS, or Trinidad. These frameworks typically take a significant period of time to transform their framework code into CSS.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims the benefit andpriority of application Ser. No. 15/484,971, filed Apr. 11, 2017, whichis a continuation of, and claims the benefit and priority of applicationSer. No. 14/486,773, filed Sep. 15, 2014, the disclosures of which isincorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An application refers to a software program, which on execution performsspecific desired tasks. In general, several applications are executed ina run-time environment containing one or more of operating systems,virtual machines (e.g., supporting Java™ programming language), devicedrivers, etc., as is well known in the relevant arts.

Developers often use Application Development Frameworks (ADFs) (whichare by themselves applications) for implementing/developing desiredapplications. An ADF provides a set of pre-defined code/data modulesthat can be directly/indirectly used in the development of anapplication. An ADF may also provide tools such as an IDE (integrateddevelopment environment), code generators, debuggers, etc. whichfacilitates a developer in coding/implementing the desired logic of theapplication in a faster/simpler manner.

In general, an ADF simplifies development of applications by providingre-usable components and integrated development environments, whichapplication developers can use to define user interfaces and applicationlogic by, for example, selecting components to perform desired tasks anddefining the appearance, behavior, and interactions of the selectedcomponents. Some ADFs are based on a model-view-controller designpattern that promotes loose coupling and easier application developmentand maintenance. Oracle Application Development Framework is one exampleof an ADF that utilizes this design pattern.

Oracle ADF includes libraries of standards-based Java Server Faces (JSF)components with built-in HTML5 and Ajax functionality. With thesecomponents, web deployed user interfaces can be developed with a levelof functionality and interactivity previously reserved for thick-clientapplications. The components offer data interaction, data visualization,and encapsulated browser side operations in a set of easy to usecomponents that makes rich client application development easier thanever. Oracle ADF further provides a data-binding framework thatsimplifies binding UI to business services through a simple drag anddrop operations in the IDE. This is done while still keeping theindependence of the business service from consuming interfaces. With theframework, the UI developer is insulated from the underlyingimplementation of the business service layer. This makes the process ofbuilding the UI truly decoupled from the implementation of the businessservice layer, better positioning the application for implementation ina service-oriented architecture.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) frameworks can be used to theme or styleweb-based applications. A CSS framework is generally a pre-preparedsoftware framework that is meant to allow for easier, morestandards-compliant web design using the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)language. Functional frameworks can come with more features andadditional JavaScript based functions that are mostly design orientedand unobtrusive. Some notable and widely used examples are Bootstrap orFoundation. Very few frameworks will allow developers of a clientinterface to quickly change a framework's look and feel visually if thatframework uses a CSS preprocessor. The reasons for this are because itis very expensive to perform the preprocessing instructions and it isdifficult to run the preprocessing client side (usually because theframeworks are written in languages that cannot be run on a webbrowser).

Accordingly, what is desired is to solve problems relating to buildingapplication user interfaces using CSS frameworks, some of which may bediscussed herein. Additionally, what is desired is to reduce drawbacksrelating to building user interfaces using CSS frameworks, some of whichmay be discussed herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following portion of this disclosure presents a simplified summaryof one or more innovations, embodiments, and/or examples found withinthis disclosure for at least the purpose of providing a basicunderstanding of the subject matter. This summary does not attempt toprovide an extensive overview of any particular embodiment or example.Additionally, this summary is not intended to identify key/criticalelements of an embodiment or example or to delineate the scope of thesubject matter of this disclosure. Accordingly, one purpose of thissummary may be to present some innovations, embodiments, and/or examplesfound within this disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to a moredetailed description presented later.

In various embodiments, methods, systems, and non-transitorycomputer-readable media are disclosed that allow developers workingwithin desktop applications to create application-specific documentsthat integrate with web-based applications. Using a desktop integrationframework, a developer can design documents having components thatprovide user interfaces to data associated with data models of theweb-based applications. In one aspect, how a component looks and isconfigured can be dynamically driven at runtime based on aspects of itsunderlying data model.

In various embodiments, a method is provided for that includesgenerating, by a computing system, a cascading style sheet (CSS) previewusing a CSS preprocessor in response to receiving CSS source code;receiving, by the computing system, a change to the CSS source code;identifying, by the computing system, a partition of the CSS source codeaffected by the change; determining, by the computing system, whetherthe computing system has instructions for the identified partition thatindicate how to apply one or more operations to obtain a first result ofthe change; generating, by the computing system, the first result inresponse to applying the one or more operations to the identifiedpartition when the computing system has the instructions; and injecting,by the computer system, the first result into the CSS preview when thecomputing system has the instructions. The computing system has theinstructions when the identified partition is sufficiently normalized toexclude elements written in a language of the CSS preprocessor such thatthe first result can be generated by the computing system using theinstructions without having to use the CSS preprocessor.

In other embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium isprovided for storing a computer program product having a set ofinstructions which when executed by one or more processors associatedwith a computer system cause the one or more processors to generate aCSS preview using a CSS preprocessor in response to receiving CSS sourcecode; receive a change to the CSS source code; identify partition of theCSS source code affected by the change; determine whether the computingsystem has instructions for the identified partition that indicate howto apply one or more operations to obtain a first result of the change;generate the first result in response to applying the one or moreoperations to the identified partition when the computing system has theinstructions; send the change and the identified partition to a servicethat hosts the CSS preprocessor when the computing system does not havethe instructions; receive a second result generated by the serviceapplying the CSS preprocessor to the identified partition with thechange; and inject the first result or the second result into the CSSpreview. The computing system has the instructions when the identifiedpartition is sufficiently normalized to exclude elements written in alanguage of the CSS preprocessor such that the first result can begenerated by the computing system using the instructions without havingto use the CSS preprocessor.

In some embodiments, a system is provided for that includes a memorystoring a set of instructions which when executed by the processor causethe processor to: generate a CSS preview using a CSS preprocessor inresponse to receiving CSS source code; receive a change to the CSSsource code; identify partition of the CSS source code affected by thechange; determine whether the system has instructions for the identifiedpartition that indicate how to apply one or more operations to obtain afirst result of the change; generate the first result in response toapplying the one or more operations to the identified partition when thesystem has the instructions; send the change and the identifiedpartition to a service that hosts the CSS preprocessor when the systemdoes not have the instructions; receive a second result generated by theservice applying the CSS preprocessor to the identified partition withthe change; and inject the first result or the second result into theCSS preview. The system has the instructions when the identifiedpartition is sufficiently normalized to exclude elements written in alanguage of the CSS preprocessor such that the first result can begenerated by the system using the instructions without having to use theCSS preprocessor.

A further understanding of the nature of and equivalents to the subjectmatter of this disclosure (as well as any inherent or express advantagesand improvements provided) should be realized in addition to the abovesection by reference to the remaining portions of this disclosure, anyaccompanying drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to reasonably describe and illustrate those innovations,embodiments, and/or examples found within this disclosure, reference maybe made to one or more accompanying drawings. The additional details orexamples used to describe the one or more accompanying drawings shouldnot be considered as limitations to the scope of any of the claimedinventions, any of the presently described embodiments and/or examples,or the presently understood best mode of any innovations presentedwithin this disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of components of a systemenvironment by which services provided by the components of anembodiment system may be offered as mobile cloud services, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a workspace for creating and theming userinterfaces according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for generating a CSS preview accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method performed by a service for handling achange to style information associated with a user interface (UI)component according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method performed by a client device forhandling a change to style information associated with a user interface(UI) component according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified diagram of a distributed system forimplementing one of the embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary computer system, in which variousembodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofembodiments of the invention. However, it will be apparent that variousembodiments may be practiced without these specific details. The figuresand description are not intended to be restrictive.

INTRODUCTION

A. System Environment

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of one or more components of systemenvironment 100 by which services provided by one or more components ofan embodiment system may be offered as cloud services, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustratedembodiment, system environment 100 includes cloud infrastructure system102 that provides cloud services to one or more client computing devices104, 106, and 108. Client computing devices 104, 106, and 108 may beused by users to interact with cloud infrastructure system 102. Clientcomputing devices 104, 106, and 108 may be configured to operate aclient application such as a web browser, a proprietary clientapplication (e.g., Oracle Forms), or some other application, which maybe used by a user of the client computing device to interact with cloudinfrastructure system 102 to use services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102.

It should be appreciated that cloud infrastructure system 102 depictedin FIG. 1 may have other components than those depicted. Further, theembodiment shown in FIG. 1 is only one example of a cloud infrastructuresystem that may incorporate an embodiment of the invention. In someother embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may have more orfewer components than shown in FIG. 1, may combine two or morecomponents, or may have a different configuration or arrangement ofcomponents.

Client computing devices 104, 106, and 108 may be portable handhelddevices (e.g., an iPhone®, cellular telephone, an iPad®, computingtablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA)) or wearable devices (e.g., aGoogle Glass® head mounted display), running software such as MicrosoftWindows Mobile®, and/or a variety of mobile operating systems such asiOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 10, Palm OS, and the like, andbeing Internet, e-mail, short message service (SMS), Blackberry®, orother communication protocol enabled. Client computing devices 104, 106,and 108 can be general purpose personal computers including, by way ofexample, personal computers and/or laptop computers running variousversions of Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux operatingsystems. Client computing devices 104, 106, and 108 can be workstationcomputers running any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX® orUNIX-like operating systems, including without limitation the variety ofGNU/Linux operating systems, such as for example, Google Chrome OS.Alternatively, or in addition, Client computing devices 104, 106, and108 may be any other electronic device, such as a thin-client computer,an Internet-enabled gaming system (e.g., a Microsoft Xbox gaming consolewith or without a Kinect® gesture input device), and/or a personalmessaging device, capable of communicating over network(s) 110.

Although exemplary system environment 100 is shown with three clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices such as devices with sensors, etc. may interactwith cloud infrastructure system 102.

Network(s) 110 may facilitate communications and exchange of databetween clients 104, 106, and 108 and cloud infrastructure system 102.Network(s) 110 may be any type of network familiar to those skilled inthe art that can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP(transmission control protocol/Internet protocol), SNA (systems networkarchitecture), IPX (Internet packet exchange), AppleTalk, and the like.Merely by way of example, network(s) 110 can be a local area network(LAN), such as one based on Ethernet, Token-Ring and/or the like.Network(s) 110 can be a wide-area network and the Internet. It caninclude a virtual network, including without limitation a virtualprivate network (VPN), an intranet, an extranet, a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), an infra-red network, a wireless network(e.g., a network operating under any of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics (IEEE) 802.11 suite of protocols, Bluetooth®, and/or anyother wireless protocol); and/or any combination of these and/or othernetworks.

Cloud infrastructure system 102 may comprise one or more computersand/or servers. These computer systems or servers may be composed of oneor more general purpose computers, specialized server computers(including, by way of example, PC (personal computer) servers, UNIX®servers, mid-range servers, mainframe computers, rack-mounted servers,etc.), server farms, server clusters, or any other appropriatearrangement and/or combination. In various embodiments, one or morecomputer systems or servers associated with cloud infrastructure system102 may be adapted to run one or more services or software applicationsdescribed in the foregoing disclosure. For example, one or more computersystems or servers associated with cloud infrastructure system 102 maycorrespond to a server for performing processing described hereinaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

One or more computer systems or servers associated with cloudinfrastructure system 102 may run an operating system including any ofthose discussed above, as well as any commercially available serveroperating system. One or more computer systems or servers associatedwith cloud infrastructure system 102 may also run any of a variety ofadditional server applications and/or mid-tier applications, includingHTTP (hypertext transport protocol) servers, FTP (file transferprotocol) servers, CGI (common gateway interface) servers, JAVA®servers, database servers, and the like. Exemplary database serversinclude without limitation those commercially available from Oracle,Microsoft, Sybase, IBM (International Business Machines), and the like.

In certain embodiments, services provided by cloud infrastructure system102 may include a host of services that are made available to users ofcloud infrastructure system 102 on demand, such as online data storageand backup solutions, Web-based e-mail services, hosted office suitesand document collaboration services, database processing, managedtechnical support services, and the like. Services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 can dynamically scale to meet the needs of itsusers. A specific instantiation of a service provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 is referred to herein as a “service instance.”In general, any service made available to a user via a communicationnetwork, such as the Internet, from a cloud service provider's system isreferred to as a “cloud service.” Typically, in a public cloudenvironment, servers and systems that make up the cloud serviceprovider's system are different from the customer's own on-premisesservers and systems. For example, a cloud service provider's system mayhost an application, and a user may, via a communication network such asthe Internet, on demand, order and use the application.

In some examples, a service instance instantiated by cloudinfrastructure 102 may include protected computer network access tostorage, a hosted database, a hosted web server, a software application,or other service provided by a cloud vendor to a user, or as otherwiseknown in the art. For example, a service instance instantiated by cloudinfrastructure 102 can include password-protected access to remotestorage on the cloud through the Internet. As another example, a serviceinstance instantiated by cloud infrastructure 102 can include a webservice-based hosted relational database and a script-languagemiddleware engine for private use by a networked developer. As anotherexample, a service instance instantiated by cloud infrastructure 102 caninclude access to an email software application hosted on a cloudvendor's web site.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may include asuite of applications, middleware, development service, and databaseservice offerings that are delivered to a customer in a self-service,subscription-based, elastically scalable, reliable, highly available,and secure manner. An example of such a cloud infrastructure system asembodied in cloud infrastructure service 102 is the Oracle Public Cloudprovided by the present assignee.

Cloud infrastructure system 102 may provide the cloud services viadifferent deployment models. For example, services may be provided undera public cloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 102 is ownedby an organization selling cloud services (e.g., owned by Oracle) andthe services are made available to the general public or differentindustry enterprises. As another example, services may be provided undera private cloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 102 isoperated solely for a single organization and may provide services forone or more entities within the organization. The cloud services mayalso be provided under a community cloud model in which cloudinfrastructure system 102 and the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 are shared by several organizations in arelated community. The cloud services may also be provided under ahybrid cloud model, which is a combination of two or more differentmodels.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 102 may include one or more services provided under Software as aService (SaaS) category, Platform as a Service (PaaS) category,Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category, or other categories ofservices including hybrid services. In some embodiments, the servicesprovided by cloud infrastructure system 102 may include, withoutlimitation, application services, platform services and infrastructureservices. In some examples, application services may be provided bycloud infrastructure system 102 via a SaaS platform. The SaaS platformmay be configured to provide cloud services that fall under the SaaScategory. For example, the SaaS platform may provide capabilities tobuild and deliver a suite of on-demand applications on an integrateddevelopment and deployment platform. The SaaS platform may manage andcontrol the underlying software and infrastructure for providing theSaaS services. By utilizing the services provided by the SaaS platform,customers can utilize applications executing on the cloud infrastructuresystem. Customers can acquire the application services without the needfor customers to purchase separate licenses and support. Variousdifferent SaaS services may be provided. Examples include, withoutlimitation, services that provide solutions for sales performancemanagement, enterprise integration, and business flexibility for largeorganizations.

In some embodiments, platform services may be provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 via a PaaS platform. The PaaS platform may beconfigured to provide cloud services that fall under the PaaS category.Examples of platform services may include without limitation servicesthat enable organizations (such as Oracle) to consolidate existingapplications on a shared, common architecture, as well as the ability tobuild new applications that leverage the shared services provided by theplatform. The PaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the PaaS services. Customerscan acquire the PaaS services provided by cloud infrastructure system102 without the need for customers to purchase separate licenses andsupport. Examples of platform services include, without limitation,Oracle Java Cloud Service (JCS), Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS),and others.

By utilizing the services provided by the PaaS platform, customers canemploy programming languages and tools supported by cloud infrastructuresystem 102 and also control the deployed services. In some embodiments,platform services provided by cloud infrastructure system 102 mayinclude database cloud services, middleware cloud services (e.g., OracleFusion Middleware services), and Java cloud services. In one embodiment,database cloud services may support shared service deployment modelsthat enable organizations to pool database resources and offer customersa Database as a Service in the form of a database cloud. Middlewarecloud services may provide a platform for customers to develop anddeploy various business applications, and Java cloud services mayprovide a platform for customers to deploy Java applications, in thecloud infrastructure system.

Various different infrastructure services may be provided by an IaaSplatform in cloud infrastructure system 102. The infrastructure servicesfacilitate the management and control of the underlying computingresources, such as storage, networks, and other fundamental computingresources for customers utilizing services provided by the SaaS platformand the PaaS platform.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may providecomprehensive management of cloud services (e.g., SaaS, PaaS, and IaaSservices) in the cloud infrastructure system. In one embodiment, cloudmanagement functionality may include capabilities for provisioning,managing, and tracking a customer's subscription received by cloudinfrastructure system 102, and the like. In various embodiments, cloudinfrastructure system 102 may be adapted to automatically provision,manage, and track a customer's subscription to services offered by cloudinfrastructure system 102. A customer, via a subscription order, mayorder one or more services provided by cloud infrastructure system 102.Cloud infrastructure system 102 then performs processing to provide theservices in the customer's subscription order.

In one embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 1, cloud management functionalitymay be provided by one or more modules, such as order management andmonitoring module 114. These modules may include or be provided usingone or more computers and/or servers, which may be general purposecomputers, specialized server computers, server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination.

In exemplary operation, a customer using a client device, such as one ormore of client computing devices 104, 106 or 108, may interact withcloud infrastructure system 102 by requesting one or more servicesprovided by cloud infrastructure system 102. The customer may issueservice request 134 cloud infrastructure system 102 using a variety ofmeans. Service request 134 may include placing an order for asubscription for one or more services offered by cloud infrastructuresystem 102, accessing one or more services offered by cloudinfrastructure system 102, or the like. In certain embodiments, thecustomer may access a cloud User Interface (UI), cloud UI 132, cloud UI134, and/or cloud UI 138 and place a subscription order via these UIs.The order information received by cloud infrastructure system 102 inresponse to the customer placing an order may include informationidentifying the customer and information identifying one or moreservices offered by the cloud infrastructure system 102 to which thecustomer intends to subscribe. After an order has been placed by thecustomer, the order information is received via the cloud UIs, 132, 134,and/or 138.

In this example, order management and monitoring module 114 sendsinformation received from a customer to an order database to have theorder placed by the customer stored in recorded. The order database canbe one of several databases operated by cloud infrastructure system 102and operated in conjunction with other system elements. Order managementand monitoring module 114 may forward information that includes all orpart of the order information stored in the order database to an ordermanagement module. In some instances, the order management module may beconfigured to perform billing and accounting functions related to theorder, such as verifying the order, and upon verification, booking theorder.

Order management and monitoring module 114 may communicate all or partof the order information to an order orchestration module that utilizesthe order information to orchestrate the provisioning of services andresources for the order placed by the customer. In some instances, theorder orchestration module may orchestrate the provisioning of resourcesto support the subscribed services using the services of an orderprovisioning module.

In certain embodiments, the order orchestration module enables themanagement of business processes associated with each order and appliesbusiness logic to determine whether an order should proceed toprovisioning. Upon receiving an order for a new subscription, the orderorchestration module sends a request to the order provisioning module toallocate resources and configure those resources needed to fulfill thesubscription order. The order provisioning module enables the allocationof resources for the services ordered by the customer. The orderprovisioning module provides a level of abstraction between the cloudservices provided by cloud infrastructure system 102 and the physicalimplementation layer that is used to provision the resources forproviding the requested services. The order orchestration module maythus be isolated from implementation details, such as whether or notservices and resources are actually provisioned on the fly orpre-provisioned and only allocated/assigned upon request.

In certain embodiments, order management and monitoring module 114manages and tracks a customer's subscription order. In some instances,order management and monitoring module 114 may receive informationindicative of any provisioned services and/or resources associated withthe customer. Order management and monitoring module 114 may beconfigured to collect usage statistics for the services in thesubscription order, such as the amount of storage used, the amount datatransferred, the number of users, and the amount of system up time andsystem down time.

Once services and resources are provisioned in the above example,service result 138 may be sent to customers on client computing devices104, 106, and/or 108 informing the customer of the provided servicesand/or resources. In instances where service request 130 includes arequest to access a service or have a service perform one or moreoperations, service result 138 may be send to customers on clientcomputing devices 104, 106, and/or 108 providing the requested access orresults of any operations, services performed, or data requested.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 100 may includeidentity management module 114. Identity management module 114 may beconfigured to provide identity services, such as access management andauthorization services in cloud infrastructure system 102. In someembodiments, identity management module 114 may control informationabout customers who wish to utilize the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. Such information can include information thatauthenticates the identities of such customers and information thatdescribes which actions those customers are authorized to performrelative to various system resources (e.g., files, directories,applications, communication ports, memory segments, etc.) Identitymanagement module 114 may also include the management of descriptiveinformation about each customer and about how and by whom thatdescriptive information can be accessed and modified.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may also includeinfrastructure resources 116 for providing the resources used to providevarious services to customers of cloud infrastructure system 102. In oneembodiment, infrastructure resources 116 may include pre-integrated andoptimized combinations of hardware, such as servers, storage, andnetworking resources to execute the services provided by the PaaSplatform and the SaaS platform.

In some embodiments, resources in cloud infrastructure system 102 may beshared by multiple users and dynamically re-allocated per demand.Additionally, resources may be allocated to users in different timezones. For example, cloud infrastructure system 102 may enable a firstset of users in a first time zone to utilize resources of the cloudinfrastructure system for a specified number of hours and then enablethe re-allocation of the same resources to another set of users locatedin a different time zone, thereby maximizing the utilization ofresources.

In certain embodiments, a number of internal shared services 118 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 102 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. These internal shared services 118 mayinclude, without limitation, a security and identity service, anintegration service, an enterprise repository service, an enterprisemanager service, a virus scanning and white list service, a highavailability, backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloudsupport, an email service, a notification service, a file transferservice, and the like.

In certain embodiments, a number of external shared services 120 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 102 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. These external shared services 120 mayinclude, without limitation, a security and identity service, anintegration service, an enterprise repository service, an enterprisemanager service, a virus scanning and white list service, a highavailability, backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloudsupport, an email service, a notification service, a file transferservice, and the like.

In various embodiments, external shared services 120 may include one ormore components that provide access, data transformation, automation, orthe like to enterprise computer system(s) 126. Access to enterprisecomputer system(s) 126 may be shared by different components or modulesof cloud infrastructure system 102 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. In some embodiments, access to enterprisecomputer system(s) 126 may be shared by service instances provided bycloud infrastructure system 102 that are restricted to one or moresubscribers.

In further embodiments, external shared services 120 may includeexternal application programming interface (API) services 128 that areshared by different components or modules of cloud infrastructure system102 and by the services provided by cloud infrastructure system 102.These external API services 128 may include, without limitation, APIsprovided by other third party services or entities.

Various different mobile cloud services may be provided by mobile cloudservice (MSC) 122 in cloud infrastructure system 102. MCS 122facilitates communication between a mobile computing device andenterprise computer systems (e.g., enterprise computer systems 124 and126) according to some embodiments of the present invention. MCS 122 mayinclude one or more memory storage devices (“local storage”) used tostore enterprise data and authentication information. Enterprise datamay be received from enterprise computer systems 126 or from clientcomputing devices 104, 106, or 108 or may include enterprise dataconverted by cloud infrastructure system 102, or combinations thereof.Authentication information may be received from identity managementsystem 116 and/or generated by cloud infrastructure system 102. In someembodiments, authentication information may include informationindicating security authentication of a user with regard to a requestfor a service.

Enterprise computer systems, such as enterprise computer systems 126 maybe physically located beyond a firewall of cloud infrastructure system102 at a different geographic location (e.g., remote geographiclocation) than cloud infrastructure system 102. In some embodiments,enterprise computer systems 126 may include one or more differentcomputers or servers. In some embodiments, enterprise computer systems126 may be part of a single computer system.

In certain embodiments, enterprise computer systems 126 may communicatewith cloud infrastructure system 102 using one or more differentprotocols. Each of enterprise computer systems 126 may communicate withcloud infrastructure system 102 using a different communicationprotocols. Enterprise computer systems 126 may support the same ordifferent security protocols. In some embodiments, MSC 1112 may includean agent system to handle communication with enterprise computer systems126.

A protocol may include a communication protocol, such as SPDY. Aprotocol may include an application protocol such as an HTTP-basedprotocol. In some embodiments, enterprise computer systems 126 maycommunicate with cloud infrastructure system 102 using a REST or SOAPcommunication protocols. For example, REST protocol may support aformats including URI or URL. Enterprise Data formatted forcommunication using REST protocol may be easily converted to dataformats such as JSON, comma-separated values (CSV), and really simplesyndication (RSS). Enterprise computer systems 126 and cloudinfrastructure system 102 may communicate using other protocols such asremote procedure calls (RPC) (e.g., XML RPC).

In some embodiments, MCS 122 may include an adaptor interface configuredto support communication with one or more services provided by cloudinfrastructure service 102, some of which may support differentprotocols or techniques for communications. In some embodiments, MCS 122may include an adaptor interface configured to support communicationwith enterprise computer systems 126, some of which may supportdifferent protocols or techniques for communications. MCS 122 mayinclude one or more adaptors each of which may be configured tocommunicate according to a communication protocol, a type of enterprisecomputer system, a type of application, a type of service, orcombinations thereof. A communication protocol supported by an adaptormay be specific to a service or one or more of enterprise computersystems 126.

In certain embodiments, client computing devices 104, 106, and 108 mayeach implement an application that can provide specific user interfacesto communicate with MCS 122. A specific UI may be configured tocommunicate using a specific communication protocol. In someembodiments, specific UIs may include callable interfaces, functions,routines, methods, and/or operations that may be invoked to communicatewith MCS 122. Specific UIs may accept as input parameters forcommunicating with a service provided by cloud infrastructure service102 or with enterprise computer systems 126 for enterprise data and/orto request a service. In some embodiments, communication through MCS 122may be converted for communication using a custom communicationprotocol. In some embodiments, specific UIs may correspond to a customclient in an application.

MCS 122 may include one or more callable interfaces, e.g., anapplication programming interface (API). Callable interfaces associatedwith MCS 122 may enable an app on a mobile computing device tocommunicate requests to MCS 122. Callable interfaces associated with MCS122 may support a common or standard interface, which may allow requestsincluding their parameters to be received from apps according to astandardized protocol, architectural style, and/or format (e.g., a RESTprotocol). Callable interfaces associated with MCS 122 may beconfigurable by a user of any one of computing devices 104, 106, or 108.Callable interfaces associated with MCS 122 may receive requests forservices according to a communication protocol. Device applicationdevelopers can connect to MCS 122 for their custom applications. In someembodiments, a callable interface associated with MCS 122 may beconfigured by the same person that develops an app, such that the personcan implement a custom app to communicate with MCS 122.

Callable interfaces associated with MCS 122 may further enableenterprise computer systems 126 to communicate with MCS 122 according toa standardized protocol or format. Similar to application developers,those who manage enterprise computer systems can implement code (e.g.,an agent system) that is configured to communicate with MCS 122 via oneor more callable interfaces. Callable interfaces associated with MCS 122may be implemented based on a type of a computing device, a type ofenterprise computer systems, an app, an agent system, a service, aprotocol, or other criterion. In some embodiments, callable interfacesassociated with MCS 122 may support requests for services includingauthentication, compression, encryption, pagination with cursors,client-based throttling, non-repudiation, logging, and metricscollection. In some embodiments, callable interfaces associated with MCS122 may be implemented for custom business-related services, such asauthentication, policy enforcement, caching of responses, throttling ofcalls to MCS 122, translation between asynchronous and synchronouspatterns, logging of calls to underlying services, or combinationsthereof. In some embodiments, callable interfaces associated with MCS122 may enable users to load custom code for implementation by cloudinfrastructure system 102. The custom code may implement one or morecallable interfaces associated with MCS 122 for cloud infrastructuresystem 102, which can enable users to access custom services or otherenterprise computer systems.

Protocol translators associated with MCS 122 may process a message todetermine a communication protocol for a message and/or to convert amessage to a communication protocol for a destination. Protocoltranslators associated with MCS 122 may convert a request received fromclient computing devices 104, 106, or 108. The request may be convertedfrom a format of a communication protocol supported by client computingdevices 104, 106, or 108 to a format of a communication protocolsupported by a service provided by cloud infrastructure service 102 orenterprise computer systems 126. Protocol translators associated withMCS 122 may convert a response received from a service provided by cloudinfrastructure service 102 or enterprise computer systems 126. Aresponse may be converted from a format of a communication protocolsupported by a service provided by cloud infrastructure service 102 orenterprise computer systems 126 to a format of a communication protocolsupported by client computing devices 104, 106, or 108.

Security services associated with MCS 122 may manage securityauthentication for requests received from any of client computingdevices 104, 106, or 108. Security services associated with MCS 122 mayprotect the integrity of customer processes and enterprise data. Toprevent system or data from being compromised, security authenticationmay occur when a request is received from client computing devices 104,106, or 108. Security authentication may be performed before a requestis dispatched for processing by cloud infrastructure system 102. Thesecurity authentication determined for a user may enable a userassociated with a mobile computing device to have authorization torequest services via MCS 122. The security authentication may reduceefforts for a user to authenticate for different requests and/orservices requested via MCS 122. Security services associated with MCS122 may be implemented as one or more functional blocks or modulesconfigured to perform various operations authenticating security of arequest.

Authentication services associated with MCS 122 may manage securityauthentication for requests received from client computing devices 104,106, or 108. Authentication services associated with MCS 122 maydetermine security authentication for a user associated with a computingdevice that sends a request to MCS 122. Security authentication may bedetermined based on a time period, which may be tied to operation of anapp (e.g., launching an app), a request, a computing device, anenterprise computer system, other criterion related to a request, orcombinations thereof. Security authentication may be verified andgranted for any one of the following, such as an individual request, oneor more enterprise computer systems, a particular service, a type ofservice, a user, a computing device, other criterion for determiningsecurity authentication, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments,cloud infrastructure system 102 may store authentication information ofusers received from enterprise computer systems or authenticationsystems supporting enterprise computer systems. Cloud infrastructuresystem 102 may determine authentication by performing a lookup functionto determine whether an identity of a user associated with a request hasauthority to make such a request. The stored authentication informationmay include information such as the type of requests, functions,enterprise computer systems, enterprise data, or the like that a usermay be authorized to access. In some embodiments, infrastructure system102 may initiate communication with a requesting computing device todetermine authentication.

In some embodiments, security authentication may be determined based ona role associated with a user requesting a service. The role may beassociated with a user requesting access to MCS 122. In someembodiments, a user may request services as a subscriber or tenant ofMCS 122 who may be granted access to resources and/or services providedby MCS 122. Authentication may correspond to a user's subscription toMCS 122, such that a user may be authorized to request services via MCS122 as a subscriber. In some embodiments, the subscription may belimited to a particular set of resources provided by MCS 122. Securityauthentication may be based on the resources and/or services accessibleto the user of MCS 122. In some embodiments, a request may beprovisioned a template during execution called a “runtime environment.”The runtime environment may be associated with resources that areallocated for a request, a user, or a device.

In some embodiments, authentication services associated with MCS 122 mayrequest an identity management system to determine securityauthentication for the user. The identity management system may beimplemented by cloud infrastructure system 102 (e.g., as identitymanagement 114) or by another computer system that is external to cloudinfrastructure system 102. Identity management 116 may determinesecurity authentication of the user based on the user's role orsubscription for accessing MCS 122. The role or subscription may beassigned privileges and/or entitlements with respect to an enterprisecomputer system, a service provided by an enterprise computer system, afunction or feature of an enterprise computer system, other criterionfor controlling access to an enterprise computer system, or combinationsthereof.

Various different application development frameworks (ADFs) may beprovided by application development frameworks (ADFs) 124 in cloudinfrastructure system 102. ADFs 124 provide the infrastructure code toimplement agile SOA based applications. ADFs 124 further provide avisual and declarative approach to development through one or moredevelopment tools (e.g., Oracle JDeveloper 11g development tool). One ormore frameworks provided by ADFs 124 may implement aModel-View-Controller design pattern. Such frameworks offer anintegrated solution that covers all the layers of the MVC architecturewith solutions to such areas as Object/Relational mapping, datapersistence, reusable controller layer, rich Web user interfaceframework, data binding to UI, security and customization. Extendingbeyond the core Web based MVC approach; such frameworks also integratewith the Oracle SOA and WebCenter Portal frameworks simplifying thecreation of complete composite applications.

In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 make it easy to develop agileapplications that expose data as services by coupling a serviceinterface to built-in business services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 102. This separation of business service implementation detailsis performed in ADFs 124 via metadata. Use of this metadata-drivenarchitecture enables application developers to focus on the businesslogic and user experience, rather than the details of how services areaccessed. In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 store implementation detailsof services in metadata in a model layer. This enables developers toexchange services without modifying the user interface, making theapplication extremely agile. Additionally, the developer creating theuser interface does not need to bother with business service accessdetails. Instead, developers can focus on developing the applicationinterface and interaction logic. Creating the user experience can be assimple as dragging-and-dropping the desired business services onto avisual page designer and indicating what type of component shouldrepresent that data.

In various embodiments, developers interact with ADFs 124 to createmodules forming enterprise applications. The enterprise applications canbe executed within the context of cloud infrastructure system 102. Invarious embodiments, developers interact with ADFs 124 to create modulesforming mobile applications. The mobile applications can be executedwithin the context of cloud infrastructure system 102. Features of thepresent invention described below may be implemented using any desiredcombination of programming language and application developmentframework as will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant arts byreading the disclosure provided herein.

One or more frameworks provided by ADFs 124 may be embodied as OracleADF in one example. Accordingly, a framework in ADFs 124 can be based ona Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern. An MVC application isseparated into: 1) a model layer that handles interaction withdata-sources and runs the business logic, 2) a view layer that handlesthe application user interface, and 3) a controller that manages theapplication flow and acts as the interface between the Model and theView layers. Separating applications into these three layers simplifiesmaintenance and reuse of components across applications. Theindependence of each layer from the others results in a loosely coupled,Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).

In various embodiments, ADFs 124 provide tools and resources allowingdevelopers to create an application in the form of multiple layers, eachlayer containing code modules/files implementing desired logic accordingto pre-defined specification. Thus, in one embodiment, ADFs 124 enablesthe application to be developed as four layers: a view layer containingcode modules/files that provide the user interface of the application, acontroller layer containing code modules that control the flow of theapplication, a model layer containing data/code modules that provide anabstraction layer for the underlying data, and a business services layercontaining code modules that provide access to data from various sourcesand handles business logic.

In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 let developers choose the technologythey prefer to use when implementing each of the layers. EJB, WebServices, JavaBeans, JPA/EclipseLink/TopLink objects, and many otherscan all be used as Business Services for ADFs 124. View layers caninclude Web based interfaces implemented with JSF, Desktop Swingapplications and MS Office front ends, as well as interfaces for mobiledevices.

In one aspect, the view layer represents the user interface of theapplication being developed. The view layer can include desktop, mobile,and browser-based views, each of which provides all or a portion of theuser interface and is accessible in a variety of manners correspondingto view type. For example, web pages may be sent by the application inresponse to receiving client requests containing corresponding URLs. Theweb pages may then be displayed by a browser on a display unit (notshown) associated with a requesting client system, thereby enablingusers of the requesting client system to interact with the enterpriseapplication. ADFs 124 support multi-channel access to business servicesallowing reuse of business services and access from a Web client, aclient-server swing desktop-based application, Microsoft Excelspreadsheets, mobile devices such as a smart-phone, or the like.

The code files/modules forming the view layer (such as web pages) may beimplemented using one or more of hypertext markup language (HTML), Javaserver pages (JSP), and Java Server Faces (JSF). Alternatively, the userinterface may be implemented using Java components such as Swing, and/orextensible markup language (XML). As further noted, the user interfacemay leverage a user's experience and familiarity with desktopapplications, such as Word and Excel by Microsoft.

As noted above, the relevant user-developed code/data modules areprovided in each of the layers. However, each layer typically containsother pre-defined code/data modules provided by ADFs 124. Some of thepre-defined modules may be used during development, for example, astemplates for developing the web pages, for including desiredfunctionality in the developed code etc. Other pre-defined modules (suchas a URL rewriting module) may be deployed along with the developedapplication and may provide additional functionalities (mapping ofrequested URLs to internal names) to the user during execution of theenterprise application.

A controller layer contains code modules/files that control the flow ofthe application. Each controller object contains software instructionsand/or data implemented according to a desired manner of presentinginformation in the view layer. The desired manner may include thespecific web pages to be displayed when links in another web page areclicked/selected by the user, the page to be displayed when errors occurduring execution, indicating the specific data to be stored/retrieved,etc.

In one aspect, the controller layer manages the applications flow andhandles user input. For example, when a Search button is clicked on apage, the controller determines what action to perform (do a search) andwhere to navigate to (the results page). There are two controlleroptions for web-based applications in JDeveloper: the standard JSFcontroller or the ADF Controller that extends the JSF controllerfunctionality. Whichever controller is used, application flow istypically designed by laying out pages and navigation rules on adiagram. An application's flow can be broken into smaller, reusable taskflows; include non-visual components such as method calls and decisionpoints in a flow; and create “page fragment” flows that run inside aregion of a single containing page.

The code modules/files forming the controller layer are oftenimplemented as Java servlets receiving the client requests and sendingdesired web pages as corresponding responses. Controller objects mayalso be implemented, for example, as Apache Jakarta Struts controllersor according to the JSF standard.

A model layer contains data/code modules that connect various businessservices to the objects that use them in the other layers, such as tothe controller objects discussed above or directly to desktopapplications as shown. Each abstract data objects of the model layerprovides a corresponding interface that can be used to access any typeof business service, executing in an underlying business service layer.The data objects may abstract the business service implementationdetails of a service from a client and/or expose data controlmethods/attributes to view components, providing a separation of theview and data layers.

In one aspect, the model layer consists of two components, data controlsand data bindings, which utilize metadata files to define the interface.Data controls abstract the business service implementation details fromclients. Data bindings expose data control methods and attributes to UIcomponents, providing a clean separation of the view and model. Due tothe metadata architecture of the model layer, developers get the samedevelopment experience when binding any type of Business Service layerimplementation to the View and Controller layers.

In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 emphasizes the use of the declarativeprogramming paradigm throughout the development process to allow usersto focus on the logic of application creation without having to get intoimplementation details. At a high level, the development process for aFusion web application usually involves creating an applicationworkspace. Using a wizard, libraries and configuration needed fortechnologies selected by a developer are automatically added and anapplication is structured into projects with packages and directories.

By modeling database objects, an online database or offline replica ofany database can be created, definitions edited, and schemas updated.Using an UML modeler, use cases can then be created for the application.Application control and navigation can also be designed. Diagrammers canbe used to visually determine the flow of application control andnavigation. Then, an underlying XML file describing the flow can beautomatically created. A resource library can be used to allow adeveloper to view and use imported libraries by simply dragging anddropping them into the application. From database tables, entity objectscan be created using wizards or dialogs. From those entity objects, viewobjects are created to be used by pages in the application. Validationrules and other types of business logic can be implemented.

In this example, a business services layer manages interaction with adata persistence layer. It provides such services as data persistence,object/relational mapping, transaction management, and business logicexecution. The business services layer can be implemented in any of thefollowing options: as simple Java classes, EJB, Web services, JPAobjects, and Oracle ADF Business Components. In addition, data can beconsumed directly from files (XML or CSV) as well as REST. Thus, eachbusiness service manages interaction with a corresponding datapersistence layer, and also provides such services as object/relationalmapping, transaction management, business logic execution, etc. Thebusiness services layer may be implemented using one or more of simpleJava classes, Enterprise Java Beans, web services, etc.

Business components represent a business service implemented using, forexample, Oracle ADF Business Components, to provide interaction withdatabases, web services, legacy systems, application servers, and thelike. In one embodiment, business components of the business serviceslayer contain a mixture of application modules, view/query objects, andentity objects, which cooperate to provide the business serviceimplementation. An application module can be a transactionalcomponent/code module that UI clients communicate with for working withapplication/transaction data. The application module may provide anupdatable data model and also procedures/functions (commonly referred toas service methods) related to user transactions.

An entity object may represent a corresponding row in a database tableand simplifies the manipulation (update, deletion, etc.) of the datastored in the corresponding row. An entity object often encapsulatesbusiness logic for the corresponding row to ensure that the desiredbusiness rules are consistently enforced. An entity object may also beassociated with other entity objects to reflect relationships existingbetween rows stored in the underlying database.

B. Mobile Cloud Infrastructure

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of one or more components of asystem environment 200 by which services provided by one or morecomponents of an embodiment system may be offered as cloud services, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In theillustrated embodiment, system environment 200 includes one or moreclient computing devices 204, 206, and 208 that may be used by users tointeract with cloud infrastructure system 202 that provides cloudservices. Client computing devices 204, 206, and 208 may be configuredto operate a client application such as a web browser, a proprietaryclient application (e.g., Oracle Forms), or some other application,which may be used by a user of the client computing device to interactwith cloud infrastructure system 202 to use services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 202.

It should be appreciated that cloud infrastructure system 202 depictedin FIG. 2 may have other components than those depicted. Further, theembodiment shown in FIG. 2 is only one example of a cloud infrastructuresystem that may incorporate an embodiment of the invention. In someother embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may have more orfewer components than shown in the figure, may combine two or morecomponents, or may have a different configuration or arrangement ofcomponents.

Client computing devices 204, 206, and 208 may be may be portablehandheld devices (e.g., an iPhone®, cellular telephone, an iPad®,computing tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA)) or wearabledevices (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounted display), running softwaresuch as Microsoft Windows Mobile®, and/or a variety of mobile operatingsystems such as iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 10, Palm OS, andthe like, and being Internet, e-mail, short message service (SMS),Blackberry®, or other communication protocol enabled. Client computingdevices 204, 206, and 208 can be general purpose personal computersincluding, by way of example, personal computers and/or laptop computersrunning various versions of Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/orLinux operating systems. Client computing devices 204, 206, and 208 canbe workstation computers running any of a variety ofcommercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems, includingwithout limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems, such asfor example, Google Chrome OS. Alternatively, or in addition, clientcomputing devices 204, 206, and 208 may be any other electronic device,such as a thin-client computer, an Internet-enabled gaming system (e.g.,a Microsoft Xbox gaming console with or without a Kinect® gesture inputdevice), and/or a personal messaging device, capable of communicatingover network(s) 210.

Although exemplary system environment 200 is shown with three clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices such as devices with sensors, etc. may interactwith cloud infrastructure system 202.

Network(s) 210 may facilitate communications and exchange of databetween clients 204, 206, and 208 and cloud infrastructure system 202.Each network may be any type of network familiar to those skilled in theart that can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially available protocols, including those described above fornetwork(s) 210. Network(s) 210 may be any type of network familiar tothose skilled in the art that can support data communications using anyof a variety of commercially-available protocols, including withoutlimitation TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol), SNA(systems network architecture), IPX (Internet packet exchange),AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, network(s) 210 can bea local area network (LAN), such as one based on Ethernet, Token-Ringand/or the like. Network(s) 210 can be a wide-area network and theInternet. It can include a virtual network, including without limitationa virtual private network (VPN), an intranet, an extranet, a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), an infra-red network, a wirelessnetwork (e.g., a network operating under any of the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics (IEEE) 802.11 suite of protocols, Bluetooth®,and/or any other wireless protocol); and/or any combination of theseand/or other networks.

Cloud infrastructure system 202 may comprise one or more computersand/or servers (not shown). Computers and/or servers associated withcloud infrastructure system 202 may be composed of one or more generalpurpose computers, specialized server computers (including, by way ofexample, PC (personal computer) servers, UNIX® servers, mid-rangeservers, mainframe computers, rack-mounted servers, etc.), server farms,server clusters, or any other appropriate arrangement and/orcombination. In various embodiments, computers and/or servers associatedwith cloud infrastructure system 202 may be adapted to run one or moreservices or software applications described in the foregoing disclosure.

Computers and/or servers associated with cloud infrastructure system 202may run an operating system including any of those discussed above, aswell as any commercially available server operating system. Computersand/or servers associated with cloud infrastructure system 202 may alsorun any of a variety of additional server applications and/or mid-tierapplications, including HTTP (hypertext transport protocol) servers, FTP(file transfer protocol) servers, CGI (common gateway interface)servers, JAVA® servers, database servers, and the like. Exemplarydatabase servers include without limitation those commercially availablefrom Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM (International Business Machines),and the like.

In some implementations, cloud infrastructure system 202 may include oneor more applications to analyze, consolidate, or process requests, datafeeds, and/or event updates received from users of client computingdevices 204, 206, and 208. As an example, client computing devices 204,206, and 208 may send one or more requests to an application to create,update, or delete data. In another example, client computing devices204, 206, and 208 may send data feeds and/or event updates that include,but are not limited to, Twitter® feeds, Facebook® updates or real-timeupdates received from one or more third party information sources andcontinuous data streams, which may include real-time events related tosensor data applications, financial tickers, network performancemeasuring tools (e.g., network monitoring and traffic managementapplications), clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, and the like. Cloud infrastructure system 202 may alsoinclude one or more applications to display processed request, datafeeds, and/or real-time events via one or more display devices of clientcomputing devices 204, 206, and 208.

In certain embodiments, services provided by cloud infrastructure system202 may include a host of services that are made available to users ofcloud infrastructure system 202 on demand, such as online data storageand backup solutions, Web-based e-mail services, hosted office suitesand document collaboration services, database processing, managedtechnical support services, application development frameworks, and thelike. Services provided by cloud infrastructure system 202 candynamically scale to meet the needs of its users. A specificinstantiation of a service provided by cloud infrastructure system 202is referred to herein as a “service instance.” In general, any servicemade available to a user via a communication network, such as theInternet, from a cloud service provider's system is referred to as a“cloud service.” Typically, in a public cloud environment, servers andsystems that make up the cloud service provider's system are differentfrom the customer's own on-premises servers and systems. For example, acloud service provider's system may host an application, and a user may,via a communication network such as the Internet, on demand, order anduse the application.

In some examples, a service in a cloud infrastructure system 202 mayinclude protected computer network access to storage, a hosted database,a hosted web server, a software application, or other service providedby a cloud vendor to a user, or as otherwise known in the art. Forexample, a service can include password-protected access to remotestorage on the cloud through the Internet. As another example, a servicecan include a web service-based hosted relational database and ascript-language middleware engine for private use by a networkeddeveloper. As another example, a service can include access to an emailsoftware application hosted on a cloud vendor's web site. In certainembodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may include a suite ofapplications, middleware, and database service offerings that aredelivered to a customer in a self-service, subscription-based,elastically scalable, reliable, highly available, and secure manner. Anexample of such a cloud infrastructure system is the Oracle Public Cloudprovided by the present assignee.

In various embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may be adaptedto automatically provision, manage and track a customer's subscriptionto services offered by cloud infrastructure system 202. Cloudinfrastructure system 202 may provide the cloud services via differentdeployment models. For example, services may be provided under a publiccloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 202 is owned by anorganization selling cloud services (e.g., owned by Oracle) and theservices are made available to the general public or different industryenterprises. As another example, services may be provided under aprivate cloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 202 is operatedsolely for a single organization and may provide services for one ormore entities within the organization. The cloud services may also beprovided under a community cloud model in which cloud infrastructuresystem 202 and the services provided by cloud infrastructure system 202are shared by several organizations in a related community. The cloudservices may also be provided under a hybrid cloud model, which is acombination of two or more different models.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 202 may include one or more services provided under Software as aService (SaaS) category, Platform as a Service (PaaS) category,Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category, or other categories ofservices including hybrid services. A customer, via a subscriptionorder, may order one or more services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 202. Cloud infrastructure system 202 then performs processing toprovide the services in the customer's subscription order.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 202 may include, without limitation, application services,platform services and infrastructure services. In some examples,application services may be provided by cloud infrastructure system 202via a SaaS platform. The SaaS platform may be configured to providecloud services that fall under the SaaS category. For example, the SaaSplatform may provide capabilities to build and deliver a suite ofon-demand applications on an integrated development and deploymentplatform. The SaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the SaaS services. Byutilizing the services provided by the SaaS platform, customers canutilize applications executing on the cloud infrastructure system.Customers can acquire the application services without the need forcustomers to purchase separate licenses and support. Various differentSaaS services may be provided. Examples include, without limitation,services that provide solutions for sales performance management,enterprise integration, and business flexibility for largeorganizations.

In some embodiments, platform services may be provided by cloudinfrastructure system 202 via a PaaS platform. The PaaS platform may beconfigured to provide cloud services that fall under the PaaS category.Examples of platform services may include without limitation servicesthat enable organizations (such as Oracle) to consolidate existingapplications on a shared, common architecture, as well as the ability tobuild new applications that leverage the shared services provided by theplatform. The PaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the PaaS services. Customerscan acquire the PaaS services provided by the cloud infrastructuresystem without the need for customers to purchase separate licenses andsupport. Examples of platform services include, without limitation,Oracle Java Cloud Service (JCS), Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS),and others.

By utilizing the services provided by the PaaS platform, customers canemploy programming languages and tools supported by cloud infrastructuresystem 202 and also control the deployed services. In some embodiments,platform services provided by cloud infrastructure system 202 mayinclude database cloud services, middleware cloud services (e.g., OracleFusion Middleware services), and Java cloud services. In one embodiment,database cloud services may support shared service deployment modelsthat enable organizations to pool database resources and offer customersa Database as a Service in the form of a database cloud. Middlewarecloud services may provide a platform for customers to develop anddeploy various business applications, and Java cloud services mayprovide a platform for customers to deploy Java applications, in cloudinfrastructure system 202.

Various different mobile cloud services may be provided by mobile cloudservice (MSC) 212 in cloud infrastructure system 202. MCS 212facilitates communication between a mobile computing device andenterprise computer systems (e.g., enterprise computer systems 224 and226) according to some embodiments of the present invention. MCS 212 mayinclude one or more memory storage devices (“local storage”) used tostore enterprise data and authentication information. Enterprise datamay be received from enterprise computer systems 224 or 226 or frommobile computing devices 204, 206, or 208 or may include enterprise dataconverted by cloud infrastructure system 202, or combinations thereof.Authentication information may be received from identity managementsystem 216 and/or generated by cloud infrastructure system 202. In someembodiments, authentication information may include informationindicating security authentication of a user with regard to a requestfor a service.

Enterprise computer systems, such as enterprise computer systems 224 and226 may be physically located beyond a firewall of cloud infrastructuresystem 202 at a different geographic location (e.g., remote geographiclocation) than cloud infrastructure system 202. In some embodiments,enterprise computer system 224 may be different from enterprise computersystem 226. In some embodiments, enterprise computer system 224 andenterprise computer system 226 may be part of a single computer system.Each of enterprise computer systems 224 and 226 may communicate withcloud infrastructure system 202 using a different communicationprotocols. Enterprise computer system 224 and enterprise computer system226 may support the same or different security protocols. In someembodiments, MSC 2112 may include an agent system to handlecommunication with enterprise computer systems 224 and 226.

In certain embodiments, one or more of enterprise computer systems 224or 226 may communicate with cloud infrastructure system 202 using one ormore different protocols. A protocol may include a communicationprotocol, such as SPDY. A protocol may include an application protocolsuch as an HTTP-based protocol. In some embodiments, enterprise computersystems 224 or 226 may communicate with cloud infrastructure system 202using a REST or SOAP communication protocols. For example, REST protocolmay support a formats including URI or URL. Enterprise Data formattedfor communication using REST protocol may be easily converted to dataformats such as JSON, comma-separated values (CSV), and really simplesyndication (RSS). Enterprise computer systems 224 or 226 and cloudinfrastructure system 202 may communicate using other protocols such asremote procedure calls (RPC) (e.g., XML RPC).

In some embodiments, MCS 212 may include an adaptor interface configuredto support communication with one or more services provided by cloudinfrastructure service 202, some of which may support differentprotocols or techniques for communications. In some embodiments, MCS 212may include an adaptor interface configured to support communicationwith enterprise computer systems 224 or 226, some of which may supportdifferent protocols or techniques for communications. MCS 212 mayinclude one or more adaptors each of which may be configured tocommunicate according to a communication protocol, a type of enterprisecomputer system, a type of application, a type of service, orcombinations thereof. A communication protocol supported by an adaptormay be specific to a service or one or more of enterprise computersystems 224 or 226.

In certain embodiments, mobile computing devices 204, 206, and 208 mayeach implement an application that can provide specific user interfacesto communicate with MCS 212. A specific UI may be configured tocommunicate using a specific communication protocol. In someembodiments, specific UIs may include callable interfaces, functions,routines, methods, and/or operations that may be invoked to communicatewith MCS 212. Specific UIs may accept as input parameters forcommunicating with a service provided by cloud infrastructure service202 or with enterprise computer systems 224 or 226 for enterprise dataand/or to request a service. In some embodiments, communication throughMCS 212 may be converted for communication using a custom communicationprotocol. In some embodiments, specific UIs may correspond to a customclient in an application.

MCS 212 may include one or more callable interfaces, e.g., anapplication programming interface (API). Callable interfaces associatedwith MCS 212 may enable an app on a mobile computing device tocommunicate requests to MCS 212. Callable interfaces associated with MCS212 may support a common or standard interface, which may allow requestsincluding their parameters to be received from apps according to astandardized protocol, architectural style, and/or format (e.g., a RESTprotocol). Callable interfaces associated with MCS 212 may beconfigurable by a user of any one of computing devices 204, 206, or 208.Callable interfaces associated with MCS 212 may receive requests forservices according to a communication protocol. Device applicationdevelopers can connect to MCS 212 for their custom applications. In someembodiments, a callable interface associated with MCS 212 may beconfigured by the same person that develops an app, such that the personcan implement a custom app to communicate with MCS 212.

Callable interfaces associated with MCS 212 may further enableenterprise computer systems 224 or 226 to communicate with MCS 212according to a standardized protocol or format. Similar to applicationdevelopers, those who manage enterprise computer systems can implementcode (e.g., an agent system) that is configured to communicate with MCS212 via one or more callable interfaces. Callable interfaces associatedwith MCS 212 may be implemented based on a type of a computing device, atype of enterprise computer systems, an app, an agent system, a service,a protocol, or other criterion. In some embodiments, callable interfacesassociated with MCS 212 may support requests for services includingauthentication, compression, encryption, pagination with cursors,client-based throttling, non-repudiation, logging, and metricscollection. In some embodiments, callable interfaces associated with MCS212 may be implemented for custom business-related services, such asauthentication, policy enforcement, caching of responses, throttling ofcalls to MCS 212, translation between asynchronous and synchronouspatterns, logging of calls to underlying services, or combinationsthereof. In some embodiments, callable interfaces associated with MCS212 may enable users to load custom code for implementation by cloudinfrastructure system 202. The custom code may implement one or morecallable interfaces associated with MCS 212 for cloud infrastructuresystem 202, which can enable users to access custom services or otherenterprise computer systems.

Protocol translators associated with MCS 212 may process a message todetermine a communication protocol for a message and/or to convert amessage to a communication protocol for a destination. Protocoltranslators associated with MCS 212 may convert a request received frommobile computing devices 204, 206, or 208. The request may be convertedfrom a format of a communication protocol supported by computing devices204, 206, or 208 to a format of a communication protocol supported by aservice provided by cloud infrastructure service 202 or enterprisecomputer systems 224 or 226. Protocol translators associated with MCS212 may convert a response received from a service provided by cloudinfrastructure service 202 or enterprise computer systems 224 or 226. Aresponse may be converted from a format of a communication protocolsupported by a service provided by cloud infrastructure service 202 orenterprise computer systems 224 or 226 to a format of a communicationprotocol supported by mobile computing devices 204, 206, or 208.

Security services associated with MCS 212 may manage securityauthentication for requests received from any of mobile computingdevices 204, 206, or 208. Security services associated with MCS 212 mayprotect the integrity of customer processes and enterprise data. Toprevent system or data from being compromised, security authenticationmay occur when a request is received from mobile computing devices 204,206, or 208. Security authentication may be performed before a requestis dispatched for processing by cloud infrastructure system 202. Thesecurity authentication determined for a user may enable a userassociated with a mobile computing device to have authorization torequest services via MCS 212. The security authentication may reduceefforts for a user to authenticate for different requests and/orservices requested via MCS 212. Security services associated with MCS212 may be implemented as one or more functional blocks or modulesconfigured to perform various operations authenticating security of arequest.

Authentication services associated with MCS 212 may manage securityauthentication for requests received from mobile computing devices 204,206, or 208. Authentication services associated with MCS 212 maydetermine security authentication for a user associated with a computingdevice that sends a request to MCS 212. Security authentication may bedetermined based on a time period, which may be tied to operation of anapp (e.g., launching an app), a request, a computing device, anenterprise computer system, other criterion related to a request, orcombinations thereof. Security authentication may be verified andgranted for any one of the following, such as an individual request, oneor more enterprise computer systems, a particular service, a type ofservice, a user, a computing device, other criterion for determiningsecurity authentication, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments,cloud infrastructure system 202 may store authentication information ofusers received from enterprise computer systems or authenticationsystems supporting enterprise computer systems. Cloud infrastructuresystem 202 may determine authentication by performing a lookup functionto determine whether an identity of a user associated with a request hasauthority to make such a request. The stored authentication informationmay include information such as the type of requests, functions,enterprise computer systems, enterprise data, or the like that a usermay be authorized to access. In some embodiments, infrastructure system202 may initiate communication with a requesting computing device todetermine authentication.

In some embodiments, security authentication may be determined based ona role associated with a user requesting a service. The role may beassociated with a user requesting access to MCS 212. In someembodiments, a user may request services as a subscriber or tenant ofMCS 212 who may be granted access to resources and/or services providedby MCS 212. Authentication may correspond to a user's subscription toMCS 212, such that a user may be authorized to request services via MCS212 as a subscriber. In some embodiments, the subscription may belimited to a particular set of resources provided by MCS 212. Securityauthentication may be based on the resources and/or services accessibleto the user of MCS 212. In some embodiments, a request may beprovisioned a template during execution called a “runtime environment.”The runtime environment may be associated with resources that areallocated for a request, a user, or a device.

In some embodiments, authentication services associated with MCS 212 mayrequest an identity management system to determine securityauthentication for the user. The identity management system may beimplemented by cloud infrastructure system 202 (e.g., as identitymanagement 216) or by another computer system that is external to cloudinfrastructure system 202. Identity management 216 may determinesecurity authentication of the user based on the user's role orsubscription for accessing MCS 212. The role or subscription may beassigned privileges and/or entitlements with respect to an enterprisecomputer system, a service provided by an enterprise computer system, afunction or feature of an enterprise computer system, other criterionfor controlling access to an enterprise computer system, or combinationsthereof.

As discussed above, in certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system202 may include identity management module 216. Identity managementmodule 216 may be configured to provide identity services, such asaccess management and authorization services in cloud infrastructuresystem 202. In some embodiments, identity management module 216 maycontrol information about customers who wish to utilize the servicesprovided by cloud infrastructure system 202. Such information caninclude information that authenticates the identities of such customersand information that describes which actions those customers areauthorized to perform relative to various system resources (e.g., files,directories, applications, communication ports, memory segments, etc.)Identity management module 216 may also include the management ofdescriptive information about each customer and about how and by whomthat descriptive information can be accessed and modified.

C. Mobile Composer

Various different infrastructure services may be provided by an IaaSplatform in cloud infrastructure system 202. The infrastructure servicesfacilitate the management and control of the underlying computingresources, such as storage, networks, and other fundamental computingresources for customers utilizing services provided by the SaaS platformand the PaaS platform.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may also includeinfrastructure resources 218 for providing the resources used to providevarious services to customers of cloud infrastructure system 202. In oneembodiment, infrastructure resources 218 may include pre-integrated andoptimized combinations of hardware, such as servers, storage, andnetworking resources to execute the services provided by the PaaSplatform and the SaaS platform.

In some embodiments, resources in cloud infrastructure system 202 may beshared by multiple users and dynamically re-allocated per demand.Additionally, resources may be allocated to users in different timezones. For example, cloud infrastructure system 202 may enable a firstset of users in a first time zone to utilize resources of cloudinfrastructure system 202 for a specified number of hours and thenenable the re-allocation of the same resources to another set of userslocated in a different time zone, thereby maximizing the utilization ofresources.

In certain embodiments, a number of internal shared services 220 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 202 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 202. These internal shared services 220 mayinclude, without limitation, a security and identity service, anintegration service, an enterprise repository service, an enterprisemanager service, a virus scanning and white list service, a highavailability, backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloudsupport, an email service, a notification service, a file transferservice, and the like.

In certain embodiments, a number of external shared services 220 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 202 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 202. These external shared services 220 mayinclude, without limitation, a security and identity service, anintegration service, an enterprise repository service, an enterprisemanager service, a virus scanning and white list service, a highavailability, backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloudsupport, an email service, a notification service, a file transferservice, and the like.

In exemplary operation, a customer using a client device, such as clientdevice 204, 206 or 208, may interact with cloud infrastructure system202 by issuing service request 234 to one or more services provided bycloud infrastructure system 202. The customer may place a subscriptionorder via these UIs, interact with one or more web-based applications,services, or the like. In certain embodiments, the customer may access acloud User Interface (UI), cloud UI 228, cloud UI 230 and/or cloud UI232 to issue service request 234. In some embodiments, service request234 is initiated in response to the customer interacting with a localUI. After service request 234 has been made by the customer, providedservice 236 is received. Provided service 236 may be received via cloudUIs, 228, 230 and/or 232.

D. Previews for CSS Preprocessing Frameworks

A CSS framework can be a standardized set of concepts, practices, andcriteria for dealing with common types of problem that originate fromuse of the CSS language. The CSS framework can be used as a reference tohelp developers approach and resolve new problems of a similar nature.In the world of mobile web design, there exists a variety of frameworksdefined as packages. The aim of most CSS frameworks is to provide acommon structure. These can be made up of a structure of files andfolders of standardized code (HTML, CSS, JS documents etc.) which can beused to support the development of user interfaces.

There are a variety of types of CSS frameworks drawn, for example, tothe presentation layer of an application. A designer may have content tobe presented in HTML documents with defined CSS style sheets so it canultimately be viewed in a browser. The designer can utilize CSS sourcecode provided by a CSS framework to create a grid in which the developerpositions different elements that make up a user interface in a simpleand versatile fashion. Currently the rise of responsive web designtechniques, which facilitate the development of websites that can adaptto various resolutions for different mobile and desktop devices, isleading to the emergence of responsive frameworks.

Within CSS frameworks, a distinction can be drawing between at least twotypes of frameworks according to their complexity: simple frameworks andcomplete frameworks. Simple frameworks are often called simply “gridsystems.” They often offer style sheets with column systems tofacilitate the distribution of different elements according to anestablished design. Complete frameworks usually offer configurablefeatures like styled-typography, sets of forms, buttons, icons and otherreusable components built to provide navigation, alerts, popovers, andmore, images frames, HTML templates, custom settings, etc.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of workspace 200 for creating and theming userinterfaces according to one embodiment. In this example, workspace 200includes UI designer interface 205. UI designer interface 205 provides acanvas onto which developers of applications can build user interfaces.UI designer interface 205 can be part of a CSS framework or part of astandalone application that utilizes one or more CSS frameworks. Invarious embodiments, UI designer interface 205 provides a templateallowing developers to position user interface elements or components tobuild user interfaces. As shown in FIG. 2, UI designer interface 205includes components, 210, 215, 220, 225, and 230 each having differentsizes and arranged differently according to a predetermined layout.Other templates and layout can be utilized.

In one aspect, a developer can utilize CSS source code provided by a CSSframework to position different elements that make up a user interface.In certain embodiments, in addition to a variety of tools to createelements of user interfaces, UI designer interface 205 also providesdevelopers tool to create the style, look, and feel of these userinterfaces. The CSS source code can adapt the user interface to variousresolutions for different mobile and desktop devices.

Referring again to FIG. 2, workspace 200 includes theme editor 235.Theme editor 235 provides developers with access to attributes ofcomponents 210, 215, 22, 225, and 230 than can be styled using CSS. Inthis example, theme editor 235 includes component attributes 240. Asshown, each attribute (e.g., A1) can have a corresponding value (e.g.,V1). Developers can specify values of attributes using a variety ofinput mechanisms, such as input fields, selection boxes, direct CSSediting, or the like.

UI designer interface 205 or theme editor 235 can be embodied as a CSSframework that includes one or more CSS preprocessors. CSS preprocessorstake code written in a preprocessed language and then convert that codeinto CSS. Some of the more popular CSS preprocessors are Sass, LESS, andStylus. CSS preprocessors are not CSS and therefore are not bound by thelimitations of CSS. The preprocessed language can give a developer morefunctionality than CSS as long as it eventually makes sure everything isoutput as CSS.

For instance, in SASS, a developer could have a variable TEXT=blue. Ifthe developer wanted red text, the developer could simply set TEXT=red.The resulting CSS code might look like:

.foo {color: red}

.bar {color: red} (and so on)

The more advanced the processing, the longer the time it takes toproduce the resulting CSS code. There are two primary industry solutionsto this, one being to attempt to mimic the results of a CSS processor byhardcoding what should change when a developer makes a change. Thesecond is to run the preprocessor for real, and incur any performancecost. The problem with these industry solutions are that they are eitherexpensive to build (mimic processing) or too slow and taxing (runningprocessors for real).

In various embodiments, a developer can change an attribute of acurrently selected component (e.g., component 210 with a bold outline).If the original value TEXT is “blue,” and the developer wanted red text,the developer could simply set the corresponding attribute using themeeditor 235. Developers are not burdened with having to write custom codethat mimics the result of a preprocessor as techniques according tovarious embodiments provide high performant and high fidelity previewswithout rely on running the preprocessor whenever a change is made.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of method 300 for generating a CSS previewaccording to one embodiment. Implementations of or processing in method300 depicted in FIG. 3 may be performed by software (e.g., instructionsor code modules) when executed by a central processing unit (CPU orprocessor) of a logic machine, such as a computer system or informationprocessing device, by hardware components of an electronic device orapplication-specific integrated circuits, or by combinations of softwareand hardware elements.

In step 310, CSS source code written using a CSS framework is received.The CSS source code can be written using features that extend the CSSlanguage—allow variables, mixins, functions, and many other techniquesto make CSS more maintainable, themable, and extendable for developers.In step 320, a CSS preview is generated using a CSS preprocessor inresponse to the CSS source code. In certain embodiments, thepreprocessor (e.g., Sass or LESS) interprets the CSS source code aswritten in a corresponding scripting language base CSS. In step 330, theCSS preview is stored. The CSS preview can be used to visualize userinterfaces being built using UI designer interface 205 of FIG. 2.

In step 340, which may occur in parallel or subsequent to anypreprocessor activity, locations of one or more partitions aredetermined using the CSS source code. In general, the CSS source code issegmented and partitioned into small parts that can be modified by theuser (variables, selectors, etc.). In certain embodiments, eachpartition is a segment of a CSS preprocessor language defined based on apolicy so that the partition is the most discreet configurable unit of aCSS pre-processor. This may include policy criteria that a partition canonly have as a dependency other partitions (and no other externalfactors). A partition includes a set of one or more tokens. Each tokenis cataloged and its location in the CSS source code recorded. In oneexample, if the variable “header_color” is used in 50 places throughoutthe CSS source code, each location is recorded such that if the variableis changed by a developer in theme editor 236, the variable can bechanged in each of the 50 locations throughout the CSS source code.

In step 350, dependencies are determined for the one or more partitions.Dependencies can include dependencies in variables, values, functions,preprocessor statements, or the like. In other words, a determination ismade as to what is the minimal set of tokens that will be affected by apotential change. In step 360, usage is determined for the one or morepartitions. For example, is the variable “header_color” used in afunction, procedure, to define another variable, or the like.

In step 370, ordering of the one or more partitions is determined. Theremay be an order to which the variable “header_color” is applied. Thisordering is determined and recorded. In certain embodiments, theordering is defined by the rules of CSS (i.e., position in a documentand selectivity based on specificity of CSS selectors).

In certain embodiments, each partition can be normalized. That caninclude statically completing functions, including additional sourcefiles, replacing variables, or the like as much as possible. There canbe some portions that cannot be normalized, such as custom functions orlanguage specific features.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of method 400 performed by a service for handlinga change to style information associated with a user interface (UI)component according to one embodiment. Implementations of or processingin method 400 depicted in FIG. 4 may be performed by software (e.g.,instructions or code modules) when executed by a central processing unit(CPU or processor) of a logic machine, such as a computer system orinformation processing device, by hardware components of an electronicdevice or application-specific integrated circuits, or by combinationsof software and hardware elements.

In step 410, a change to a style is received at the service from aclient device. For example, a developer building user interfaces on theclient device using a development framework provided by the servicereceives the CSS preview views the styling of the user interfaces. Thedeveloper can change one or more styles associated with all or part of auser interface (e.g., by modifying attributes or variables within thepreprocessor scripting language). In response to a change to a style,the client device causes a request to be sent to the service to changeto the style and receive updates CSS. In certain embodiments, the clientdevice determines the partition affected by the change. The clientdevice can sent the partition to the service with the change.

In step 420, the partition affected by the change is analyzed. Forexample, the partition is analyzed to determine whether the partitionhas been completely normalized or whether the partition still requiresthe preprocessor to do some work. Other processing may be performed tothe partition at this step, for example, to inject additionalinformation, augment aspects of the partition, decimate portions of thepartition, or the like.

Accordingly, if a determination is made in step 430 that the partitionhas been sufficiently normalized, a result of the change to the style iscomputed in step 440. In various embodiments, the result can bedetermined using find and replace techniques. Other string manipulationstechniques may be used, as these operations do not require the time orresources of running the CSS preprocessor.

In step 450, an instruction is generated that enables the client deviceto compute the result of the change to the style without having toresend the change to the service. The instruction includes any necessaryinformation to regenerate the result. A response can be sent to theclient device in step 480 that includes the result of the change to thestyle and the instruction to compute the result of future changes to thestyle. Since the partition can be computed in a technology agnosticfashion, it can be computed in the future solely on the client (forinstance using a script execute by a web browser). This makes futurechanges to the same partition appear near instant to the user.

If a determination is made in step 430 that the partition has not beensufficiently normalized, the partition is sent to the CSS preprocessorin step 460. The CSS preprocessor only has to run on the partitionrather than the entire CSS source code. Since the partition issignificantly smaller in most instances than the entire startingpreprocessor code, a result can be generated significantly faster—almostin real time.

In step 470, the result is received from the CSS preprocessor. In step480, a response is sent to the client with the results of the CSSpreprocessor. In either case, once the client device has the result, theclient device can inject the resulting CSS code according to theoriginal ordering of the partition in the preprocessed CSS code. SinceCSS rules are order dependent, this ensures that the order is preservedwhen a change is made to just one partition.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of method 500 performed by a client device forhandling a change to style information associated with a user interface(UI) component according to one embodiment. Implementations of orprocessing in method 500 depicted in FIG. 5 may be performed by software(e.g., instructions or code modules) when executed by a centralprocessing unit (CPU or processor) of a logic machine, such as acomputer system or information processing device, by hardware componentsof an electronic device or application-specific integrated circuits, orby combinations of software and hardware elements.

In step 510, a change to a style is received at the client device. Asdiscussed above, a developer can change one or more styles associatedwith all or part of a user interface (e.g., by modifying attributes orvariables within the preprocessor scripting language). In response to achange to a style, the client device determines the partition affectedby the change in step 520.

In step 530, the client device determines whether it has instructionsfor computing the partition affected by the change. For example, thepartition may have been sufficiently normalized such that the servicesent an instruction that enables the client device to compute the resultof the change to the style without having to resend the change to theservice. The instruction previously received at the client includes anynecessary information to regenerate the result in response to futurechanges to the style.

If a determination is made in step 530 that the client device hasinstructions for computing the partition affected by the change, thepartition is computed in step 460. Since the partition is computed onthe client device, a result can be generated significantly faster—almostappearing instantaneously. The result can then be injected into the CSSpreview based on the ordering of the partition in step 570.

If a determination is made in step 530 that the client device does nothave instructions for computing the partition affected by the change, arequest is sent to the service in step 550. As discussed above, therequest can include information identify the change to the style, thepartition affected by the change, as well as other information that theservice can use to provide a suitable response. The partition iscomputed on one or more servers associated with the service. Since thepartition is significantly smaller than the entire CSS source code, aresult can be generated in near real-time. In step 560, a response isreceived from the service that includes a result of running the CSSpreprocessor on the partition. The result can then be injected into theCSS preview based on the ordering of the partition in step 570.

CONCLUSION

A. Distributed System

FIG. 6 depicts a simplified diagram of distributed system 600 forimplementing one of the embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment,distributed system 600 includes one or more client computing devices602, 604, 606, and 608, which are configured to execute and operate aclient application such as a web browser, proprietary client (e.g.,Oracle Forms), or the like over one or more network(s) 610. Server 612may be communicatively coupled with remote client computing devices 602,604, 606, and 608 via network 610.

In various embodiments, server 612 may be adapted to run one or moreservices or software applications provided by one or more of thecomponents of the system. In some embodiments, these services may beoffered as web-based or cloud services or under a Software as a Service(SaaS) model or a Platform as a Serves (PaaS) model to the users ofclient computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608. Users operatingclient computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608 may in turn utilizeone or more client applications to interact with server 612 to utilizethe services provided by these components.

In the configuration depicted in FIG. 6, software components 618, 620,and 622 of system 600 are shown as being implemented on server 612. Inother embodiments, one or more of the components of system 600 and/orthe services provided by these components may also be implemented by oneor more of the client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608. Usersoperating the client computing devices may then utilize one or moreclient applications to use the services provided by these components.These components may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, orcombinations thereof. It should be appreciated that various differentsystem configurations are possible, which may be different fromdistributed system 600. The embodiment shown in the figure is thus oneexample of a distributed system for implementing an embodiment systemand is not intended to be limiting.

Client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608 may be portablehandheld devices (e.g., an iPhone®, cellular telephone, an iPad®,computing tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA)) or wearabledevices (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounted display), running softwaresuch as Microsoft Windows Mobile®, and/or a variety of mobile operatingsystems such as iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 10, Palm OS, andthe like, and being Internet, e-mail, short message service (SMS),Blackberry®, or other communication protocol enabled. Client computingdevices 602, 604, 606, and/or 608 can be general purpose personalcomputers including, by way of example, personal computers and/or laptopcomputers running various versions of Microsoft Windows®, AppleMacintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems. Client computing devices602, 604, 606, and/or 608 can be workstation computers running any of avariety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems,including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems,such as for example, Google Chrome OS. Alternatively, or in addition,client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and 608 may be any otherelectronic device, such as a thin-client computer, an Internet-enabledgaming system (e.g., a Microsoft Xbox gaming console with or without aKinect® gesture input device), and/or a personal messaging device,capable of communicating over network(s) 610.

Although exemplary distributed system 600 is shown with four clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices, such as devices with sensors, etc., mayinteract with server 612.

Network(s) 610 in distributed system 600 may be any type of networkfamiliar to those skilled in the art that can support datacommunications using any of a variety of commercially-availableprotocols, including without limitation TCP/IP (transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol), SNA (systems network architecture), IPX(Internet packet exchange), AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way ofexample, network(s) 610 can be a local area network (LAN), such as onebased on Ethernet, Token-Ring and/or the like. Network(s) 610 can be awide-area network and the Internet. It can include a virtual network,including without limitation a virtual private network (VPN), anintranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), aninfra-red network, a wireless network (e.g., a network operating underany of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) 802.11 suiteof protocols, Bluetooth®, and/or any other wireless protocol); and/orany combination of these and/or other networks.

Server 612 may be composed of one or more general purpose computers,specialized server computers (including, by way of example, PC (personalcomputer) servers, UNIX® servers, mid-range servers, mainframecomputers, rack-mounted servers, etc.), server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination. In variousembodiments, server 612 may be adapted to run one or more services orsoftware applications described in the foregoing disclosure. Forexample, server 612 may correspond to a server for performing processingdescribed above according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Server 612 may run an operating system including any of those discussedabove, as well as any commercially available server operating system.Server 612 may also run any of a variety of additional serverapplications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP (hypertexttransport protocol) servers, FTP (file transfer protocol) servers, CGI(common gateway interface) servers, JAVA® servers, database servers, andthe like. Exemplary database servers include without limitation thosecommercially available from Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM(International Business Machines), and the like.

In some implementations, server 612 may include one or more applicationsto analyze and consolidate data feeds and/or event updates received fromusers of client computing devices 602, 604, 606, and 608. As an example,data feeds and/or event updates may include, but are not limited to,Twitter® feeds, Facebook® updates or real-time updates received from oneor more third party information sources and continuous data streams,which may include real-time events related to sensor data applications,financial tickers, network performance measuring tools (e.g., networkmonitoring and traffic management applications), clickstream analysistools, automobile traffic monitoring, and the like. Server 612 may alsoinclude one or more applications to display the data feeds and/orreal-time events via one or more display devices of client computingdevices 602, 604, 606, and 608.

Distributed system 600 may also include one or more databases 614 and616. Databases 614 and 616 may reside in a variety of locations. By wayof example, one or more of databases 614 and 616 may reside on anon-transitory storage medium local to (and/or resident in) server 612.Alternatively, databases 614 and 616 may be remote from server 612 andin communication with server 612 via a network-based or dedicatedconnection. In one set of embodiments, databases 614 and 616 may residein a storage-area network (SAN). Similarly, any necessary files forperforming the functions attributed to server 612 may be stored locallyon server 612 and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set ofembodiments, databases 614 and 616 may include relational databases,such as databases provided by Oracle, that are adapted to store, update,and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.

B. Computer System

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary computer system 700, in which variousembodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system 700may be used to implement any of the computer systems described above. Asshown in FIG. 7, computer system 700 includes bus subsystem 702 andprocessing unit 704 that communicates with a number of peripheralsubsystems via bus subsystem 702. These peripheral subsystems mayinclude processing acceleration unit 706, I/O subsystem 708, storagesubsystem 718, and communications subsystem 724. Storage subsystem 718includes tangible computer-readable storage media 722 and a systemmemory 710.

Bus subsystem 702 provides a mechanism for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of computer system 700 communicate with eachother as intended. Although bus subsystem 702 is shown schematically asa single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilizemultiple buses. Bus subsystem 702 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Forexample, such architectures may include an Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, which can beimplemented as a Mezzanine bus manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1standard.

Processing unit 704, which can be implemented as one or more integratedcircuits (e.g., a conventional microprocessor or microcontroller),controls the operation of computer system 700. One or more processorsmay be included in processing unit 704. These processors may includesingle core or multicore processors. In certain embodiments, processingunit 704 may be implemented as one or more independent processing units732 and/or 734 with single or multicore processors included in eachprocessing unit. In other embodiments, processing unit 704 may also beimplemented as a quad-core processing unit formed by integrating twodual-core processors into a single chip.

In various embodiments, processing unit 704 can execute a variety ofprograms in response to program code and can maintain multipleconcurrently executing programs or processes. At any given time, some orall of the program code to be executed can be resident in processor(s)704 and/or in storage subsystem 718. Through suitable programming,processor(s) 704 can provide various functionalities described above.Computer system 700 may additionally include a processing accelerationunit 706, which can include a digital signal processor (DSP), aspecial-purpose processor, and/or the like.

I/O subsystem 708 may include user interface input devices and userinterface output devices. User interface input devices may include akeyboard, pointing devices such as a mouse or trackball, a touchpad ortouch screen incorporated into a display, a scroll wheel, a click wheel,a dial, a button, a switch, a keypad, audio input devices with voicecommand recognition systems, microphones, and other types of inputdevices. User interface input devices may include, for example, motionsensing and/or gesture recognition devices such as the Microsoft Kinect®motion sensor that enables users to control and interact with an inputdevice, such as the Microsoft Xbox® 360 game controller, through anatural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. Userinterface input devices may also include eye gesture recognition devicessuch as the Google Glass® blink detector that detects eye activity(e.g., ‘blinking’ while taking pictures and/or making a menu selection)from users and transforms the eye gestures as input into an input device(e.g., Google Glass®). Additionally, user interface input devices mayinclude voice recognition sensing devices that enable users to interactwith voice recognition systems (e.g., Siri® navigator), through voicecommands.

User interface input devices may also include, without limitation, threedimensional (3D) mice, joysticks or pointing sticks, gamepads andgraphic tablets, and audio/visual devices such as speakers, digitalcameras, digital camcorders, portable media players, webcams, imagescanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode reader 3D scanners, 3D printers,laser rangefinders, and eye gaze tracking devices. Additionally, userinterface input devices may include, for example, medical imaging inputdevices such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging,position emission tomography, medical ultrasonography devices. Userinterface input devices may also include, for example, audio inputdevices such as MIDI keyboards, digital musical instruments and thelike.

User interface output devices may include a display subsystem, indicatorlights, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc. Thedisplay subsystem may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-panel device,such as that using a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma display, aprojection device, a touch screen, and the like. In general, use of theterm “output device” is intended to include all possible types ofdevices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system700 to a user or other computer. For example, user interface outputdevices may include, without limitation, a variety of display devicesthat visually convey text, graphics and audio/video information such asmonitors, printers, speakers, headphones, automotive navigation systems,plotters, voice output devices, and modems.

Computer system 700 may comprise a storage subsystem 718 that comprisessoftware elements, shown as being currently located within a systemmemory 710. System memory 710 may store program instructions that areloadable and executable on processing unit 704, as well as datagenerated during the execution of these programs.

Depending on the configuration and type of computer system 700, systemmemory 710 may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)) and/ornon-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.) TheRAM typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediatelyaccessible to and/or presently being operated and executed by processingunit 704. In some implementations, system memory 710 may includemultiple different types of memory, such as static random access memory(SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In some implementations,a basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within computer system700, such as during start-up, may typically be stored in the ROM. By wayof example, and not limitation, system memory 710 also illustratesapplication programs 712, which may include client applications, Webbrowsers, mid-tier applications, relational database management systems(RDBMS), etc., program data 714, and an operating system 716. By way ofexample, operating system 716 may include various versions of MicrosoftWindows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems, a variety ofcommercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems (includingwithout limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems, theGoogle Chrome® OS, and the like) and/or mobile operating systems such asiOS, Windows® Phone, Android® OS, BlackBerry® 10 OS, and Palm® OSoperating systems.

Storage subsystem 718 may also provide a tangible computer-readablestorage medium for storing the basic programming and data constructsthat provide the functionality of some embodiments. Software (programs,code modules, instructions) that when executed by a processor providethe functionality described above may be stored in storage subsystem718. These software modules or instructions may be executed byprocessing unit 704. Storage subsystem 718 may also provide a repositoryfor storing data used in accordance with the present invention.

Storage subsystem 700 may also include a computer-readable storage mediareader 720 that can further be connected to computer-readable storagemedia 722. Together and, optionally, in combination with system memory710, computer-readable storage media 722 may comprehensively representremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing,transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.

Computer-readable storage media 722 containing code, or portions ofcode, can also include any appropriate media known or used in the art,including storage media and communication media, such as but not limitedto, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information. This can include tangible computer-readable storagemedia such as RAM, ROM, electronically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disk (DVD), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or other tangible computer readable media. This can also includenontangible computer-readable media, such as data signals, datatransmissions, or any other medium which can be used to transmit thedesired information and which can be accessed by computing system 700.

By way of example, computer-readable storage media 722 may include ahard disk drive that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatilemagnetic media, a magnetic disk drive that reads from or writes to aremovable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive thatreads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as aCD ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray® disk, or other optical media.Computer-readable storage media 722 may include, but is not limited to,Zip® drives, flash memory cards, universal serial bus (USB) flashdrives, secure digital (SD) cards, DVD disks, digital video tape, andthe like. Computer-readable storage media 722 may also include,solid-state drives (SSD) based on non-volatile memory such asflash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid state ROM, andthe like, SSDs based on volatile memory such as solid state RAM, dynamicRAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs, magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, andhybrid SSDs that use a combination of DRAM and flash memory based SSDs.The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media may providenon-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for computer system 700.

Communications subsystem 724 provides an interface to other computersystems and networks. Communications subsystem 724 serves as aninterface for receiving data from and transmitting data to other systemsfrom computer system 700. For example, communications subsystem 724 mayenable computer system 700 to connect to one or more devices via theInternet. In some embodiments communications subsystem 724 can includeradio frequency (RF) transceiver components for accessing wireless voiceand/or data networks (e.g., using cellular telephone technology,advanced data network technology, such as 3G, 4G or EDGE (enhanced datarates for global evolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 family standards, orother mobile communication technologies, or any combination thereof),global positioning system (GPS) receiver components, and/or othercomponents. In some embodiments communications subsystem 724 can providewired network connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) in addition to or instead ofa wireless interface.

In some embodiments, communications subsystem 724 may also receive inputcommunication in the form of structured and/or unstructured data feeds726, event streams 728, event updates 730, and the like on behalf of oneor more users who may use computer system 700.

By way of example, communications subsystem 724 may be configured toreceive data feeds 726 in real-time from users of social networks and/orother communication services such as Twitter® feeds, Facebook® updates,web feeds such as Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and/or real-timeupdates from one or more third party information sources.

Additionally, communications subsystem 724 may also be configured toreceive data in the form of continuous data streams, which may includeevent streams 728 of real-time events and/or event updates 730, that maybe continuous or unbounded in nature with no explicit end. Examples ofapplications that generate continuous data may include, for example,sensor data applications, financial tickers, network performancemeasuring tools (e.g. network monitoring and traffic managementapplications), clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, and the like.

Communications subsystem 724 may also be configured to output thestructured and/or unstructured data feeds 726, event streams 728, eventupdates 730, and the like to one or more databases that may be incommunication with one or more streaming data source computers coupledto computer system 700.

Computer system 700 can be one of various types, including a handheldportable device (e.g., an iPhone® cellular phone, an iPad® computingtablet, a PDA), a wearable device (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounteddisplay), a PC, a workstation, a mainframe, a kiosk, a server rack, orany other data processing system.

Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, thedescription of computer system 700 depicted in the figure is intendedonly as a specific example. Many other configurations having more orfewer components than the system depicted in the figure are possible.For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, firmware, software (includingapplets), or a combination. Further, connection to other computingdevices, such as network input/output devices, may be employed. Based onthe disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement thevarious embodiments.

In the foregoing specification, aspects of the invention are describedwith reference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in theart will recognize that the invention is not limited thereto. Variousfeatures and aspects of the above-described invention may be usedindividually or jointly. Further, embodiments can be utilized in anynumber of environments and applications beyond those described hereinwithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of thespecification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, by a computing system, a change to a portion of source codewritten in a cascading style sheet (CSS) preprocessor language;identifying, by the computing system, a partition associated with thechange, wherein the partition is identified from a plurality ofpartitions generated from the source code; determining, by the computingsystem, whether the computing system has instructions for computing thepartition affected by the change, wherein the computing system has theinstructions when the partition is normalized to exclude elementswritten in CSS preprocessor language such that the computing system canprocess the change without having to use a CSS preprocessor; when thecomputing system has the instructions: (i) computing, by the computingsystem, a first result for the partition affected by the change based onthe instructions; and (ii) injecting, by the computing system, the firstresult into a CSS preview based on a partition order; and when thecomputing system does not have the instructions, (i) sending, by thecomputing system, the partition with the change to the CSS preprocessor,(ii) receiving, by the computing system, a second result generated bythe CSS preprocessor processing the change to the partition, and (iii)injecting, by the computing system, the second result into the CSSpreview based on a partition order.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe instructions indicate how to apply one or more operations to obtainthe first result of the change, and the partition order is defined byrules of the CSS further.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the CSSsource code is written by a CSS framework using features that extend theCSS preprocessor language to allow for functions and variables.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the CSS preview displays a user interfacebeing built using a user interface designer interface.
 5. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the partition is normalized by statically completingthe functions and replacing the variables.
 6. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing a computer program product having a setof instructions which when executed by one or more processors associatedwith a computer system cause the one or more processors to: receive achange to a portion of source code written in a cascading style sheet(CSS) preprocessor language; identify a partition associated with thechange, wherein the partition is identified from a plurality ofpartitions generated from the source code; determining whetherinstructions are available for computing the partition affected by thechange, wherein the instructions are available when the partition isnormalized to exclude elements written in CSS preprocessor language suchthat the computer system can process the change without having to use aCSS preprocessor; when the instructions are available: (i) compute afirst result for the partition affected by the change based on theinstructions; and (ii) inject the first result into a CSS preview basedon a partition order; and when the instructions are not available, (i)send the partition with the change to the CSS preprocessor, (ii) receivea second result generated by the CSS preprocessor processing the changeto the partition, and (iii) inject the second result into the CSSpreview based on a partition order.
 7. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions indicatehow to apply one or more operations to obtain the first result of thechange, and the partition order is defined by rules of the CSS.
 8. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the CSSsource code is written by a CSS framework using features that extend theCSS preprocessor language to allow for functions and variables.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the CSSpreview displays a user interface being built using a user interfacedesigner interface.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 8, wherein the partition is normalized by statically completingthe functions and replacing the variables.
 11. A system comprising: ahardware processor; and a memory storing a set of instructions whichwhen executed by the processor cause the processor to: receive a changeto a portion of source code written in a cascading style sheet (CSS)preprocessor language; identify a partition associated with the change,wherein the partition is identified from a plurality of partitionsgenerated from the source code; determining whether instructions areavailable for computing the partition affected by the change, whereinthe instructions are available when the partition is normalized toexclude elements written in CSS preprocessor language such that thesystem can process the change without having to use a CSS preprocessor;when the instructions are available: (i) compute a first result for thepartition affected by the change based on the instructions; and (ii)inject the first result into a CSS preview based on a partition order;and when the instructions are not available, (i) send the partition withthe change to the CSS preprocessor, (ii) receive a second resultgenerated by the CSS preprocessor processing the change to thepartition, and (iii) inject the second result into the CSS preview basedon a partition order.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein theinstructions indicate how to apply one or more operations to obtain thefirst result of the change, and the partition order is defined by rulesof the CSS.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11,wherein the CSS source code is written by a CSS framework using featuresthat extend the CSS preprocessor language to allow for functions andvariables.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13,wherein the CSS preview displays a user interface being built using auser interface designer interface.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the partition isnormalized by statically completing the functions and replacing thevariables.